Archive for the ‘Constituency’ Category

It has been a long day at Westminster.

First we had the announcement in relation to the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The impacts are severe as we expected but what is even more shocking is the mess that we were left by the previous Government.

1. In total Labour left us a £38bn black hole over the next ten years. To repeat, they had committed to spend £38,000,000,000 more than the money in the defence budget over the next ten years.

2. The top fifteen (15) spending programmes are currently £8.8bn over budget with the delivery programme for these commitments facing a delay of 32 years UNDER THE LABOUR PLANS!

3. Last year alone the Labour Government increased their spending commitments on defence equipment by an incredible £3.3bn in one year and yet made no additional funding available.

So the background is horrendous to say the least. However, the announcements at least attempted to make sense of the chaos left to the Coalition by the Labour Party – but there was a heavy price to pay.

The loss of the investment at St. Athan in South Wales was a serious blow to my colleague Alun Cairns, the Conservative MP for the Vale of Glamorgan and there are some unpalatable changes in all three services. However, as a result of this review there are important positives which we need to highlight;

Royal Navy

• There will keep a continuous at sea nuclear deterrent
• Seven attack submarines and 19 Frigates and Destroyers will be maintained
• All three naval bases will be retained

Army

• All 36 Infantry Battalions are to be kept
• There will be a new structure of five deployable Multi-Role Brigades
• There will be no changes to Army Units involved in Afghanistan

RAF

• Move to a fleet of Carrier Variant Joint Strike Fighters and a Typhoon Fleet by 2020
• New state of the art Strategic Airlift aircraft consisting of C17s, A400Ms and A330s
• No impact on operations in Afghanistan

Having attempted to digest all these announcements we then met the Minister for Culture, Jeremy Hunt, to discuss his proposed new funding arrangements for S4C. As I was attempting to get to grip with the details the story appeared on the BBC. I suspect that tomorrow will be exhausting. There will be the fallout from the Strategic Defence and Security Review and the funding announcements of the BBC and S4C coupled with the Comprehensive Spending review being revealed at 12.30.

Interesting times!

Guto

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend this dinner at the St. George’s Hotel in Llandudno on Friday night to honour those individuals and groups who work quietly but effectively to make life better for us as a society.

The event, sponsored by Trinity Mirror and Scottish Power, was excellent with an attention to detail which would not be found in many far grander televised award events. The St. George and their staff showed why we as a community should be proud of Llandudno as a tourism destination – I was incredibly pleased to see the way that Llandudno could rise to the occasion so effortlessly.

However, the real success of the evening was the quality and breadth of the award winners. These were people who had turned adversity into opportunity, tragedy into a chance to serve others and often, through sheer willpower, had managed to make a real difference to entire communities and the lives of numerous individuals.

It was humbling and gratifying to see the Aberconwy area walk away with no fewer than five awards. These were;

1. Abigail Williams, from Llandudno, in the Young Person of the Year Category
2. Friends of Queens Park, Craig y Don, in the Team Effort Category
3. Ysgol Nant y Coed, Llandudno Junction, in the School of the Year Category
4. James Singleton, Dwygyfylchi, in the Sporting Champion Category
5. Theresa Evans, Llandudno, in the Person of the Year Category

My sincere congratulations to all and to every other nominee in what was an inspiring evening. As the deputy editor of the Daily Post said;

“we often read about the bad things in society on the front pages of our newspapers but occasionally it pays to recognise and acknowledge the immense good work that is undertaken each and every day in our communities”

Guto

This week saw a number of debates in the house which have a real significance to the country. Tuesday saw the first of five days allocated to the Committee Stage of the Parliamentary Voting Systems and Constituencies Bill. With a constitutional bill of this nature the whole house sits as a committee with the aim of scrutinising the legislation. Although I have my doubts about elements of the Bill as it currently stands I was happy to support the clauses debated on Tuesday which pave the way for a referendum on the AV voting system.

It should be noted that I do not agree with AV and I will campaign against the concept next April prior to the vote in May. However, as a member of the 1922 Committee I and other members of the Conservative back benches gave the Prime Minister the right to offer a referendum on AV to the Liberals and as such I feel duty bound to support the legislation that will give rise to a vote on the matter.

I returned to the Bill in a very useful meeting of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee which was held on Thursday morning. The practical implications of the proposed changes to constituency boundaries in Wales are significant and whilst the intellectual argument against a reduction in the number of Welsh Members of Parliament from 40 to 30 was certainly not made by the Labour members of the committee I strongly believe that some of the practical challenges highlighted by the Electoral Registration Office for Newport and followed-up by myself with the two ministers give rise to a degree of concern.

It should be noted that David Jones MP put in a very combative performance as a witness whilst Mark Harper MP was informed and persuasive in his responses to many of the questions raised. This issue will come back next week in the house and I will attempt to highlight some of the concerns which have been identified by the Welsh Affairs Committee this morning.

Other notable events this week was the first appearance at PMQs for Ed Milliband and dare I say it he probably won on points. Early days though. I was also involved on Wednesday evening in a rebellion on the issue of UK funding for the EU. As a signatory to an amendment calling on the government to reduce our contribution to the EU in line with the sacrifices being asked of the British people I felt duty bound to vote against the government despite the decision of the executive not to accept the amendment. However, Justine Greening, the Minister was excellent and despite the rejection of the amendment I feel confident that we as a coalition of a combative and effective minister fighting our case in Brussels. I wish her well.

Guto

This announcement made during what was a very good week in Birmingham has caused quite a stir. I probably did not help things by responding to questions for Wales Today and S4C which were subsequently used by Newsnight. To ensure that everybody understands my position I will make a few things clear;

1. I do not support the principle of Universal Benefits. At a time of serious financial difficulties for this country it is not clear why high income families should be receiving state handouts.

2. The level of income which can be defined as 'high' is a difficult issue. It was remarkable how a vox pop on Radio Wales in Llanrwst found only one person concerned by the change whilst a similar survey for S4C in Cardiff found every mother expressing doubt about the policy. What this shows is that whilst £44,000 IS a very significant income in many parts of the UK it is not a king's ransom. However, I would be willing to accept a proposal that saw a gradual withdrawal of the benefit at £44,000 if it was based on the family income.

3. The issue of family income is the crux of the matter. As the proposal stands a family with one wage earner on £44,000 would lose every penny of the benefit whilst another family with two wage earners on £43,000 each would retain the benefit even with a family income of £86,000. I simply cannot see the fairness in such a proposal.

I have written to the Chancellor on this issue and the text of the letter is available below;

The Chancellor of the Exchequer

Guto

Update

Interesting view from the Daily Express!

http://www.express.co.uk/ourcomments/view/204406

Blogging has been a little sparse over the last few months. Coping with the demands of a busy Constituency life and a Westminster life has been a considerable challenge for my family and me. However, I now have a full complement of staff in the Constituency office, a cycle of surgeries, an autumn season of public meetings and a parliamentary assistant in London. So there are no excuses now for not blogging regularly!

However, I will not have the time to administer the blog as I have done in the past and so for that reason I have decided to disable the comments section. However, I am always happy to engage in debate – details of public meetings are on the website or alternatively feel free to phone me or e-mail me.
My details are as follows;
London Office Number: 020 7219 7002
Constituency Office: 01492 583094
E-mail: guto.bebb.mp@parliament.uk.

Update

Well what a surprise! I have actually received quite a few e-mails stating that I should allow comments. As long as readers are happy to accept that my monitoring will be 2/3 time a week then why not!

One of the first meetings I had as the MP for Aberconwy was with the Betsi Cadwalader Hospital Trust in order to discuss the issues surrounding the Minor Injuries Unit at Llandudno Hospital. Having highlighted the closure of the unit at night during the campaign and the fact that a permanent closure would save a significant amount of funds for the Trust I was aiming to demand a re-think. Six weeks later I continue to have doubts about aspects of the plans but I do accept that many aspects of the changes proposed are medical led decisions. The consultation process was also clearly transparent and in some ways a model of what a medical led consultation should include.

Before any readers assume that I agree with the proposals being made let us put the issue in context;

1. A steering group to look at the future of LH was set up in 2007. The first meeting was held in July 2007 and the second in October 2007. The papers are available.

2. A review was undertaken by Frank Burns during the period May – Dec 2007. He made 50 recommendations concerning the future of the hospital. The report is also an open document and available to all.

3. A project board was established in June 2008 to consider his report. There were eight working groups established to consider the themes within the report. This included representatives from the League of Friends, CHC and LHAGS.

4. The final report of the Board was published in March 2009. Within this it is recorded that the work group concluded that MIU should close after midnight. It was the project board that decided to investigate nurse led service after midnight with medical support from the GP out of hours services. The board resolved to take advice from Prof. Mike Harmer on the future role of the MIU. The options that he was to be asked to consider were:

• Nurse led with support
• Developed as an out of hours centre – GP’s out of hours contract to be renegotiated in October 2010 and felt that perhaps there was some room to do something creative her.
• Develop as a new build.

5. After the publishing of the report – the Llandudno Hospital project was set up in January 2010. The aim was to consider recommendations of the Burns report and provide detailed plans for;

• Unscheduled Care
• Elective Treatment & Diagnosis
• Rehabilitation
• Women’s Health
• Mental Health

6. To achieve this aim there was to be a project team, a stakeholder group (to include LHAGS), expert support group and a communications group (to include LHAGS).

7. At the meeting of the Stakeholder Group on 24th March 2010 it was AGREED that MIU could not safely be managed without appropriate numbers of qualified staff. It was suggested that doctors were paid more for working at Llandudno but the consultants present said it was a national problem – rather than money. I have investigated this issue since my meeting with the Trust and can confirm that the issue of a shortage of trained doctors / consultants is a current national problem which is worse in Wales at this moment in time.

8. It was AGREED that no emergencies would be admitted after 6pm.

As you can imagine, the paperwork provided by the Trust in support of their decision in relation to the MIU was substantial. I have read and sought advice on many aspects of the recommendations. I continue to be unhappy about issues such as access times and the availability of ambulances in the Llandudno area if the MIU closes as a 24hr facility and as such I have requested a further meeting with the Trust to seek detailed assurances on these issues.

However, it is clear from the paper trail that the proposal to reduce the hours at the MIU has been fairly well documented since 2007 and it is misleading to suggest that this is a bolt from the blue. Even my comments in April alluded to the fact that the cost savings that closure would bring were being investigated in detail prior to the first closure of the MIU overnight at that time.

I have also spoken with or had my staff speak with members of LHAGS and the League of Friends and they have confirmed that the process in their view has been open and transparent. One individual specifically stated that they were “delighted that all the decisions are being made by clinicians and practioners rather than “pen pushers”.

Coupled with confirmation from a Consultant in Cardiff as to the levels of Doctor and Consultant shortage in Wales I have to admit that the case appears to be medically driven rather than financially inspired. And yet....

I remain concerned that the practical impact of the downgrade of the MIU will be a huge blow to the town, the population and the hospital. I will be holding a number of ‘open surgeries’ and ‘public meetings’ during August and September and would ask interested parties to come along and highlight your own concerns. Having read the background papers and copious minutes from numerous meetings I feel that there continue to be questions in need of a response from the Trust and as such will report back following my further meetings with the Trust team dealing with the specific MIU proposal and the wider re-development of Llandudno Hospital.

Guto

In a packed meeting at St. Paul's Church, Craig y Don on Tuesday evening, Cllr. Mrs. Janet Finch Saunders was elected on first ballot to become the Association's candidate for the Welsh Assembly Elections in 2011. This was first time that the Association had chosen a candidate by means of an Open Hustings and they were delighted with the public engagement and interest. The moderator was Rev. Tom Bonnet who was thanked by the Chairman, Cllr. Mrs. Margaret Lyon for his assistance.

On being elected Janet said "I am proud to have been elected as your candidate. I shall work tirelessly to represent the people of Aberconwy. But I can not do it alone. I need you to play your part as you have done tonight." Cllr. Janet has been a County Councillor for the Craig y Don Ward since 2004 and a Town Councillor for much longer. She currently holds position 3 on the Regional List for the Welsh Assembly. There will be a page on the website with details about Janet, later on this month.

As interested readers are no doubt aware the Gwynt y Môr wind farm development was approved some 18 months ago despite the opposition of local councillors and the concerns of the significant tourism sector centred on the town of Llandudno in this constituency.

The announcement of the success of the consortium led by RWE Npower Renewables in attracting the funding for the project, around £2.2billion, was made a few weeks ago and whilst this was in many ways a disappointment to local protesters and businesses which argued against the development. However, there was also a realistic view expressed by many that “we are where we are” and as such there was a clear need for the area to benefit financially from the development. This potential financial benefit would come in two ways;

1. The opportunities for local businesses to benefit from opportunities to win contracts with the developers.

2. The Community Benefits Package which had been discussed by the consortium with the local authority, Conwy County Borough Council.

I have contacted the Welsh Assembly Government Department of Economy and Transport in relation to the first opportunity in relation to the potential to use the Local Supplier Development Programme to support and guide businesses in relation to what they need to do to access the opportunities arising from the development. In the same way I have, in private meetings with the Secretary of State for Wales, asked her to make representations to the Consortium in relation to the accessibility of contract opportunities for local businesses. I hope to be involved in a ‘meet the buyer’ type event in the area in due course and will keep readers posted on any development.

However, my real concerns at this point relate to the Community Benefits Package. In the original discussions between Conwy Council and the consortium there were two separate strands for support discussed. These were;

1. Tourism support package for Llandudno (subsequently changed to Conwy Council Area) worth £230k per year
2. Community Benefits Package of £1m per annum for a period of 20/25 years

The concerns I have, which are shared by constituents, is that the Tourism Support Package is now been described by the Consortium as a package of support for Conwy and Denbighshire. It was disappointing, but perhaps understandable in many ways, that the initial tourism package which was proposed for Llandudno had been changed by Conwy Council to include the whole of the County. However, this package is now being described by the Consortium as a fund for the counties of Conwy and Denbighshire.

This is contrary to the spirit of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Consortium and Conwy Council which stated specifically that the Conwy Coast Tourism Programme (originally for Llandudno only) would be separate from any discussions with other authorities along the North Wales coast. The local population feel that the Consortium have made promises in order to attempt to win the support of Llandudno residents and businesses which are now been significantly changed since public support is not now needed. This change in the Llandudno Tourism package was made know to the Council on the 14th of April.

Secondly, in the same letter dated 14th April 2010 the Consortium informs Conwy Council that the Community Benefits Package will be significantly reduced from the promised £1m to £768k per year. This is justified on the basis of detailed site design work resulting in a project with a capacity of 750mw being reduced to 576mw.

At the Welsh Select Committee I asked the Secretary of State to meet with representatives of the consortium to discuss the unilateral changes to both the Tourism Support Package and the Community Benefits Package. Furthermore I also asked the Secretary of Sate whether she was of the view that there was a need for an agreed level of compensation for communities affected by large scale developments in order to ensure that a consortium such as the one led by RWE at Gwynt y Môr would not be in a position to make promises and then change them without consultation once planning permission had been secured. On this point I was advised to raise the matter with the Department of the Environment and Climate Change which I am now progressing.

ITV Wales and the Daily Post provided coverage for the fact that the issue was highlighted at the Welsh Select Committee – it might be possible to embarrass the consortium into honouring the original Memorandum of Understanding!

Guto

One of the first calls for support I received after my election was from traders and concerned residents in Penmaenmawr. Since early April numerous businesses have closed in the village with other businesses increasingly worried that the loss of a number of independent traders could easily have a dangerous knock-on effect on the surviving traders. The main concern expressed by all the traders whom I met was the extraordinary increase in their business rates valuation.

Consultations with local businesses (a slow process due to Data Protection Legislation) found that the increase in business rates vary from two cases where the increase is 35% and 36% to eight cases where the increase is in the region of 50% (most are at 50.6%). There are then two outliners where the increase has been 111% and 83% respectively. All these businesses are in the central Penmaenmawr retail area and all the businesses will, as a result of the new rateable value, face a real increase in their payments despite the change in the multiplier from 48.9p in the pound to the current 40.9p. When I recall the numerous occasions when Plaid Cymru supporters indicated that the changes in business rates would be ‘neutral’ (as many winners as losers was the claim if I remember correctly)it is difficult to see how this can be the case in view of the evidence collected from 14 businesses in Penmaenmawr.

Why the uniform increase in the context of Penmaenmawr? Is it a direct result of the substantial investment that has been made in the retail area over recent years? It seems almost perverse that public money has been spent by several agencies in order to re-vitalise the commercial heart of the village and their investment is now being undermined through the decisions taken by another government agency to increase rateable values by a margin which bears no relationship to the commercial realities of operating a business in the village.

It should also be noted that two businesses within a walking distance of the centre of the village have suffered rateable value increases of 121% and 309%! Whilst not in the central retail area these businesses have also contributed to the renewal of the commercial potential of the area and there is a real question as to how such significant increases can be justified.

I’m aware that a number of businesses are appealing their valuations due to the commercial impact of such above inflation changes on their businesses. In addition to supporting fully these individual appeals I have written to the Valuation Office requesting an explanation as to why Penmaenmawr has been subject to such huge increases. I have also offered to take officers from the Valuation Office on a fact finding tour of businesses in the village to show them that neither rental charges or the level of trade have increased in any way which could conceivably justify the massive increases in rates identified.

On a final note – if readers of this blog are aware of similar circumstances where all the businesses in an area are losers from the rates revaluation then get in touch. I would be delighted to take issue with the Valuation Office with respect to any area where the vast majority of traders are losers and not winners from the revaluation process.

Guto

Firstly, my apologies. Apart from a few postings in the first week after the election I have been very quiet on the blog. This is due to a heavy workload since the election coupled with issues such as dealing with new offices, IT systems, employment law and the small matter of getting used to life at Westminster, finding somewhere to live and dealing with loose ends from my business.

But for the past few weeks I have finally felt myself to be on top of things. Surgeries are going well with numerous and varied cases coming through the door. My series of local surgeries and public meetings for late August and September are almost agreed and locations for outreach surgeries and dates are in place. Finally I have no excuse for not blogging on an occasional basis.

As the MP for Aberconwy I will endeavour to keep you informed of what is happening at Westminster, comment on Welsh issues and keep you posted on my activities. However, I would also want to see this forum used as an information source for myself. For example, my first posting in my new blogging career is in relation to the issues of Business Rates in Penmaenmawr. It would be interesting and useful to hear of other localities where the alleged ‘neutral’ nature of the revaluation can be called into question. In a similar vein I will be blogging on the situation in relation to the MIU at Llandudno Hospital and would be very keen to hear your views on the announced downgrade of the Unit.

Any local issues or concerns that you have can be communicated to me on my parliamentary e-mail which is;

guto.bebb.mp@parliament.uk

All the best,

Guto